An Opportunity for Yoga Tourism Industry to Make a Triple Impact

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J Journal of Tourism & Hospitality ISSN: 2167-0269

PerspectiveResearch Article OpenOpen Access Access Disparities in the Use of Yoga: An Opportunity for Yoga Tourism Industry to Make a Triple Impact Avinash Patwardhan* Department of Global & Community Health, George Mason University, Fairfax VA 22030, USA

Abstract Tourism is increasing globally and is predicted to grow. There is also a noticeable change in the motivation for tourism from hedonic to eudemonic self-realization oriented spiritual pursuits. As a part of this process, ‘yoga tourism’ is gaining popularity. However, this development is encumbered with disparities. Yoga tourism purportedly offers to assuage the adverse effects of stress and chronic diseases partially induced by modernity. These predicaments affect everybody uniformly, rather in some ways, worse for men and the low socioeconomic groups. Yet, only 15.8% of the yoga practitioners are males and tourism is mostly out of the reach of the low socioeconomic groups. The situation provides yoga tourism industry an opportunity. How to get started with yoga is a barrier for males and financial constraint is a major barrier for the low socioeconomic groups to undertake tourism or yoga.Itis known that many female yoga tourists have a happy family/personal life. Yoga tourism industry can offer attractive financial and hedonic incentives (pull) to motivate them to bring along their male counterparts. On the other hand, social tourism (financially subsidized tourism for the disadvantaged) exists but does not enjoy much support due to lack of advocacy. Yoga tourism industry can spearhead an incentive driven advocacy movement to lobby charity organizations and government welfare agencies to support social (yoga) tourism. (1) This will open up the hitherto untapped huge male and the low socioeconomic groups market and (2) The event participation might help males and the low socioeconomic groups to overcome their respective barriers and introduce them to yoga practice. Apart from market growth and growth of yoga use, in a long run these developments have the potential to translate into substantial public health benefits in terms of reduction in stress, disease burden, health costs and loss of productivity.

Keywords: Yoga tourism; Social tourism; yoga; Public health; Health While it is unfortunate that such disparities should exist, therein also disparities; Eudemonic; Spirituality; Low socioeconomic groups lies a triple opportunity for yoga tourism industry, to target and market into hitherto untapped subpopulations of males and low socioeconomic Introduction groups, to (1) increase overall yoga use among communities to make it uniform in terms of gender and socioeconomic strata (2) increase Health benefits of tourism, such as relief from stress or anxiety growth of (yoga) tourism industry and, (3) indirectly assist public [1], better quality of sleep [2], improvement in relationships [3], and health efforts to reduce costs and burden of chronic diseases and to satisfaction with life [4] are well documented. In the post-modern increase productivity. era of global capitalism [5], it is therefore natural that tourism should be growing sizably [6]. Similarly, it is also established that yoga offers Disparity in the Practice of Yoga between Females and benefits in health promotion [7] and disease mitigation [8]. Amidst the Males global tide of chronic diseases [9], it is therefore not surprising that yoga use is also increasing in current times [10]. Furthermore and as The general reference to an increase in the practice of yoga can a result, the synergy of yoga and tourism in the form of ‘yoga tourism’ be easily misconstrued as being universal and applicable to all the is garnering increasing interest among its various stakeholders like segments of the population uniformly. A 2013 national survey of yoga industry [11], end users [12], and scholars [13]. practitioners showed that only 15.8% of the yoga users were males [24]. Yoga is advocated for its utility in health and disease for everybody. However, these positive trends are encumbered with a few Nonetheless, there is evidence that compared to females; males show disheartening paradoxes. The younger generation is more health higher incidences of obesity [25], coronary heart disease [26], and conscious, but it is also the one that is more stressed out [14]; the low back pain [27]. Since yoga is known to show efficacy in helping females practice yoga more, but they have been experiencing higher these conditions [28,29], the small percentage of males using yoga stress compared to males and get more adversely affected by it [15]; constitutes a huge missed opportunity from a public health standpoint. yoga use is on a rise, but so is the overall stress in life [16]; interest Furthermore, this underuse can easily translate into higher health care in tourism is increasing, but violence like terrorism is dampening the costs and decreased productivity [30]. tourists’ enthusiasm [17]. While the causal connections among the above contradictory phenomena that generally feed into each other are complex [5]; one *Corresponding author: Avinash Patwardhan, Department of Global & Community Health, George Mason University, Fairfax VA 22030, USA, Tel: (571) observation that jumps out is that whether it is yoga or tourism, both 455-2038; E-mail: [email protected] depict a picture of disparity [18,19]. It is apparent that the number of females practicing yoga is disproportionately larger than males [18], Received July 22, 2016; Accepted August 17, 2016; Published August 23, 2016 and prima facie yoga appears to be an activity of the elites [20], serving Citation: Patwardhan A (2016) Disparities in the Use of Yoga: An Opportunity primarily the upper socioeconomic strata in the society; practiced by for Yoga Tourism Industry to Make a Triple Impact. J Tourism Hospit 5: 235. doi: 10.4172/2167-0269.1000235 the well educated, apparently young and healthy, who have a decent upper middle class or higher income [18,21,22]. On the other hand, it is Copyright: © 2016 Patwardhan A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted seen that the low socioeconomic populations engage in tourism much use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and less than those from the upper classes [23]. source are credited.

J Tourism Hospit, an open access journal Volume 5 • Issue 4 • 1000235 ISSN: 2167-0269 Citation: Patwardhan A (2016) Disparities in the Use of Yoga: An Opportunity for Yoga Tourism Industry to Make a Triple Impact. J Tourism Hospit 5: 235. doi: 10.4172/2167-0269.1000235

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Disparity in the practice of tourism or yoga between fare systems [42]. Studies have demonstrated that tourism has a posi- high and low socioeconomic classes tive impact on economically or otherwise disadvantaged groups such as low-income families, and people with health issues and disabilities It is known that the chance of engaging in touristic activities [43]. There is evidence that non-participation in tourism can have diminishes with lower socioeconomic status [31,32]. Literature also adverse implications for wellbeing in later life [3]. Additionally, there suggests that people from low socioeconomic strata, particularly based are several studies that have found beneficial effects of social tourism on education, participate less in yoga [18,21]. The lack of access to in different groups of disadvantaged populations [19,44,45]. Further- tourism and yoga in the low socioeconomic populations makes them more and despite current economic austerity, there is an interest among miss the health benefits of both, again leading to loss of health and charities and governments regarding economic benefits of social tour- productivity [33]. ism [46,47]. However, as Jablonska, Jaremko, and Timčák expound, because of numerous complex factors, there is not sufficient advocacy Opportunity for yoga tourism industry for social tourism [42]. For example, because tourism is considered as Males are interested in tourism as much as females, and might discretionary activity, social tourism in hardly known in the US and use yoga if they have help with one key barrier: Though females tend only little found in the UK; and with scarce public funding [48]. Riding to seek more escape and relaxation oriented tourism than males [34], on the crest of popularity of yoga in the general public and taking help as far as wish to collect the experiences offered by the commercial from yoga champions and advocates among the well-to-do people, yoga tourism industry, there appears to be homogeneity between the tourism industry can fill in the gap. genders [35,36]. There is indication that lately males are showing an increasing interest in health tourism [37]. On the other hand, though A roadmap for Yoga Tourism Industry to Capitalize on no rigorous analysis has been done about why males practice yoga the above Opportunity less, one study notes that among the barriers, not knowing ‘how to get Create a Strong Pull: Push and pull mechanisms are known in the started’ applies more to males than females [38]. It appears that males motivation for touristic activities, where push are the internal motiva- have no less inclination for tourism or health tourism than females, tors and the pulls are usually the external incentives that lead to touris- and if somehow males can be brought to yoga tourist events, those tic activities [49,50]. Current yoga tourists are driven by a strong push events can serve as a point of entry for males to get introduced to the of the desire to explore one’s spirituality and to seek transcendental practice of yoga. meaning and peace in life [5]. However, if on the top of it, and as a way Female Yoga Tourists are Well Positioned to Serve as Facilitators of a robust pull, yoga tourism industry offers lucrative financial and to Induce Males to Undertake Yoga Tourism: A 2006 paper dedicated other semi-hedonistic incentives to these committed core consumer to the topic of yoga tourism showed that a typical yoga tourism con- females clients, provided they brought along their male relations, be sumer is a highly educated, high income, middle aged, well traveled, they spouses, boyfriends, partners, colleagues or friends, the incen- healthy, exercising, professional, social, and intellectual woman who tives would be strong enough to motivate them to convince their male is already committed to yoga practice for a long time [13]. Data also counterparts to join them. The males might also see value, if they see showed that 47.8% of these females traveled with friends but not family, financial benefits and the hedonic gains. Once males come in, it is very and 27.5% of them traveled solo. This was despite the fact that 34.9% likely that they can be persuaded to try out yoga and will be able to of these females reported that they were happy with their family life. get over their barrier of ‘how to get started’. Rather than trying to get Similarly 22.6% enjoyed an excellent rapport with their colleagues and over this barrier in their home environment, a health promoting tour- 33.3% had a happy relationship with their friends. Two later analyses, ist environment will serve as a better catalyst for such transformation for males. Following this exposure and introduction, one can hope that one in 2011 and other in 2012, portrayed a similar picture of a wellness these males will continue their practice of yoga when they return home. tourist and [yoga] a retreat consumer [39,40]. The above profiles of fe- For yoga tourism industry this will be a win-win situation. It will have male yoga tourists suggest that these females can be great influences or expanded into hitherto untapped huge male market and it will have motivators for the males in their circle of influence. The 2012 paper also helped solve one big public health challenge. pointed out that 20% of the retreat visitors had never undertaken any yoga practice before and had no experience or prior exposure to retreat Capitalize on the Paradigm of Social Tourism: Every tourism in- type of activities, and 58% consumers were also retreat naïve. The au- dustry spends a good amount of their investment on advertisements. thor commented that targeting the yoga or yoga tourism naïve females Yoga tourism industry can invest a part of their budgets to create an could provide a large potentially untapped market for the industry, an advocacy movement for yoga tourism among major charities that are argument that can be generalized for male tourists as well. dedicated to the wellbeing of the low socioeconomic groups, and with the welfare programs under local governments, urging those agencies There is a Change in the Attitude of Health Tourism Operators: to sponsor yoga tourism for the disadvantaged populations. In this A 2015 paper pointed to a newly emerging trend among the perception endeavor, yoga tourism industry should collaborate with various yoga of the health tourism operators. It said that the operators believe that advocacy organizations. To get a buy-in from these charities and or the focus of advertisement should shift from single females to couples governments, yoga tourism industry should offer special and generous and families, suggesting that the operators are sensing a change in the discounted yoga tourism packages for those low socioeconomic class profile of the new tourists and are ready and willing to change their ap- clients who are funded by the collaborating charities and welfare pro- proach [41]. This changed mindset can be harnessed to promote yoga grams. This will expand the client base of yoga tourism industry and at tourism in a different and more productive way. the same time help the low socioeconomic populations in improving Social Tourism is Underutilized and there is a Gap in Its Advo- their wellbeing. cacy: Social tourism broadly is a type of tourism where those in risk of poverty can get a chance to have a vacation at prices accessible to Discussion them, usually through financial help from charities or government wel- Yoga has a great potential to address many major challenges faced

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J Tourism Hospit, an open access journal Volume 5 • Issue 4 • 1000235 ISSN: 2167-0269